My Diary

8 Nov 2016

Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee

Economic Impact of Leaving the European Union

At today’s meeting, I asked university officials about the challenges that the restriction of free movement would have in the university sector. I visited the University of Edinburgh last week and was told that 25% Edinburgh University academic staff are from the EU. Edinburgh University makes significant contributions to the economy, especially in Edinburgh and so it is necessary that we know the full impact of leaving the EU.

2 Nov 2016

Finance and Constitution Committee

Public Finances and Economic Performance

In this week’s committee meeting, I asked about the reality versus perception of the short term impacts that we have seen following the announcement of Brexit.

“That sharp drop in sterling doesn’t seem to have captured the imagination as much so as with the commentators and yet it could be leading to quite significant impacts. Someone suggested this week that if there are any more announcements from the UK Government about hard Brexit this could lead sterling to drop even further so presumable that would also lead on to more impacts coming over on the short and medium term.”